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Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 9:17 PM UTC

Student group organizes global rally

Way beyond Kony2012 clicktivism, students from Bangkok to Cali are organizing against commodified education today

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Topics: Student strike, Global-Tech, Student Debt, Activism, privatization, Austerity, technology, Youth, , ,

Student group organizes global rallyStudents shout slogans during to protest a possible return of the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Mexico City, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Demonstrators also protested against what students perceive as a biased coverage by major Mexican TV networks of the presidential elections campaign, which they claim to be directed in favor of PRI's candidate Enrique Pena Nieto. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)(Credit: AP)

The past few years have seen mass student uprisings against austerity in the U.K., Chile and Quebec. The International Student Movement (ISM) — a web platform created in 2008 — is helping these disparate scholars coordinate their local movements with global protest days. The idea is to fight the worldwide squeeze on education, as articulated in ISM’s call to action:

No matter where we live, we face the same struggle against national state and profit driven interests, and their hold on education. Increasing tuition fees, budget cuts, outsourcing, school closures, as well as other phenomena are linked to an increasing commercialization and privatization of education.

This month, ISM hosted Web-based chats with students from Morocco, Bangkok, Vienna, New York and many other locales leading up to today’s “Global Day of Action to Reclaim Education.” The blend of high tech and grass-roots activism is still being tested, but it has already emboldened students to coordinate a Global Education Strike for Nov. 14-22.

Today’s demonstrations have included rallies outside Thailand’s parliament, a beat down in Spain, and Greek student blocs in the broader 30,000 person anti-austerity demonstration (during which one man died).

Students will be tweeting about their actions all day at #1world1struggle. A few so far:

 

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